Well that didn’t take long

Last week, I attended a speech by former Governor General Ed Schreyer, who predicted that the moratorium on deep-sea drilling would be shortlived – embraced briefly while attention focused on the devastation of the gulf but enduring only to the time that fuel prices began increasing again.

Turns out, we didn’t even have to wait for oil prices to rise much.  It should be no surprise that the oil industry is whining about the moratorium already.  Today a judge ruled against the moratorium as well, though the Obama administration will appeal that ruling.

The fact is that the easily accessible oil sources have all been explored and almost all are now in serious decline.  From now on, our addiction to oil will force us to pursue more marginal sources in more physically challenging locations or in hostile countries.  The damages from this addiction will continue to climb.  We have to choose whether to cater to this addiction and compete with other addicts for a dwindling supply or go through the painful process of withdrawal and emerge in a better place.